Iraqis shrug off digger pull-out

Despite assaults by the US and the Australian Government on Labor's proposal to extract Australian troops from Iraq by Christmas, senior political figures in Baghdad yesterday insisted the move would have little impact on the ground.

Dr Adel Abdul Mahdi, a leading figure in the powerful Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said that Australia's contribution as a foundation member of US President George Bush's "coalition of the willing", when only a handful of countries would go to war, had earned it privileges in the minds of Iraqis.

The doctor, a senior political adviser to Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the Shiite leader tipped as the likely first president of the new Iraq, told The Age: "I think we would understand if Australia withdrew - your privileges here would not be diminished.

"The sky won't fall in. As long as we do not have chaos, their leaving by Christmas will not be an issue."

Opposition Leader Mark Latham's promise to pull Australian troops out has been attacked by the US ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer, and the US State Department. Labor has also been under siege from Prime Minister John Howard and much of the Government front bench.

Criticism has ranged from the risk that withdrawing could signal to terrorists that there was a political dividend from bombings such as the Madrid train strike, to inviting attacks on the Australians in Iraq to hasten their withdrawal.

Dr Abdul Mahdi said his first preference was for the Australians to stay because Iraqis were more willing to co-operate with what they saw as an international force than a purely American operation.

"(But) the good work - getting rid of Saddam Hussein - is done and it is a healthy debate you are having in Australia," he said.

Dr Mahmud Othman, a Kurdish Sunni member of the Iraqi Governing Council, said that Australian numbers in Iraq were small and others could undertake their work.

He said: "I understand this. The Australians leaving would be more of a negative for the US. It would be better for Iraq if they could stay, but their leaving won't change the situation here very much.

"Your voters might see this as America and Britain's war - and they could reason that there's not much in it for them because there were no weapons of mass destruction; and now there is the risk of reprisal terrorist attacks on the countries serving here. It's understandable that voters would think like that," he said.

Dr Othman said Iraqis thought well of Australia and their view would not be changed by the election of a Labor government that acted on Mr Latham's promise to quit Iraq.

One of the Australians in Baghdad, who declined to be named, has also concluded that the debate in Australia is of little consequence in Iraq, but he cautioned that if Australia did alter its commitment, it might be noticed.